Election Countdown 2012: Hurricane Issac May Put a Damper on the Republican National Convention

This week in the election countdown: a new campaign initiative targets underwate homeowners; while Florida brags of a decrease in their unemployment, 250,000 people have been kicked off the roster for "exhausting" their benefits; in New York gas shale operations now hinge on the whether hazardous materials going in the ground remain hazardous on their way out; and more.

D – 17 and counting*

"It is immoral to use private property in order to alleviate the horrible evils that result from the institution of private property. It is both immoral and unfair." –Oscar Wilde

Montreal. Manifestation, August 22: "Most journalists on twitter were conservatively estimating around 25,000, with gusts up to 50,000, while CUTV estimated 80,000 and CLASSE's official estimate was 100,000. In my opinion, the crowd was over 100,000. A tightly packed crowd which takes between forty-five minutes and an hour to pass a given point, and stretches like a giant snake around most of downtown, is to me clearly in excess of 100,000. [I]t was an overwhelmingly large crowd which occupied much of the downtown core for several hours and sent a crystal clear message to politicians and voters alike. The movement is very much alive" (photo, though not of crowd).

RNCon. Hurricane watch: "12:15pm UPDATE: Scott has indicated that, at this point, he doesn't anticipate that the convention will be canceled. Local, state, federal and RNC officials are meeting regularly to decide what to do." Hurricane watch, Weather Underground: "I put the odds of an evacuation occurring during the convention in the current situation at 3%." ... Teebee: "ABC, CBS and NBC are planning to air only one hour of coverage from Tampa during each of the final three nights of the R convention. Problem is: The GOP convention runs four nights, beginning Monday and featuring Ann Romney's speech." ... Teebee: "[Political coverage this year] can drive viewers away, as ABC learned when it looked at the minute-by-minute ratings of "Good Morning America" and saw that people sometimes tuned out when political news was shown." .... Police state: "About 60 agencies will convene at this secret [sekrit] location during the RNCon Convention, working side-by-side to improve communication. Each agency, including the FBI, will have a separate command center for its decision-making. So far, the FBI has not gathered information of planned terrorist attacks during the convention, [FBI's Steven Ibison] said. 'At this point, it's just the [which? Sovereign citizens? Putzes] anarchists' criminal activity.'" All this for something the networks won't give more than an hour to. ... Police state: ""FBI and (Homeland Security) assess with high confidence anarchist extremists will target similar infrastructure in Tampa and Charlotte, with potentially significant impacts on public safety and transportation," according to the law enforcement alert." As opposed to non-anarchist extremists, I suppose.

OH. Voting: "Issue 2 would establish a 12-member commission to draw the state's legislative and congressional districts, a process now controlled by elected officials. Voters First [filed suit, claiming] the approved [Issue 2] ballot language is incomplete. The wording, for example, omits any references to requirements that the commission draw fair districts that reflect the political preferences of Ohio voters." ... Fracking: "Niles joined Weathersfield Township trustees on Wednesday, passing a resolution to ban all injection wells in the city and township. That includes the proposed site off state Route 169 next to Niles Commerce Park. [I]ltimately it's up to ODNR to approve or reject the permits. [Resident: ] 'ODNR has never denied a permit in their history. If they deny this permit, it'll be the first.'"

OR. C'est normal: "[Kevin Cameron,] the OR House R leader who abruptly stepped down last month says he did so in part because of concerns that the public would find out that he and a handful of other R lawmakers had visited a topless bar." Suggesting where some Tampa streamers should set up shop...

TN. Gaffe: "[The email:] 'I don't give a rat's ass what the black caucus thinks. [State Sen] Jim Summerville.' In the subject line: 'Please share this response with your colleagues.'" And they did, they did! ... Coal: "The TVA is liable for damages caused when one of its containment dikes failed, dumping 1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge onto the community of Watts Bar Lake, TN, a federal judge ruled." The dike's "slimes layer" failed, a great metaphor.

VA. Corruption: "Since cost overruns with a jail expansion and new animal shelter came to light, many [Chesapeake] residents say they have lost trust in how elected officials are spending their tax dollars. City Council members, in turn, say they have lost trust in the city staff for not being upfront about the problems."

WI. Corruption: "Farley pretended to represent a Chicago firm seeking a long-stalled county financial contract and said the firm wanted to know, 'What can we do to put it on the agenda?'" ... Handmaid's Tale: "A lineup of prominent state and national pro-life speakers, including Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, had their 'Abortion is not health care' message shouted down in Madison Tuesday, with exchanges between opposing sides at one point nearly coming to blows." .... Shelters: "'If you have things spread all over the city, it's hard to get things done,' [Daniel Callahan] says. 'Especially when you've got backpacks and bags you're carrying around with you.'" Contrary to conventional wisdom, it's hard work to be poor.

The trail. Carville: "Shorter 2010: Rs, energized by the Tea Party and stoked by fear, turned out their base. Ds, absurdly disappointed that simply electing Barack Obama didn't solve all our problems, stayed home in droves to 'send a message.'" No more absurd than insulting your base. ... Medicare, swing states, polls: "After more than a week of frenzied campaigning on the issue, Medicare ranks as the third-most crucial issue to likely voters in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin — behind the economy and health care, according to new Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News polls of the three swing states."

Romney. Ryan: "It's a nation in debt, in doubt, and decline. We want to get back to the American idea that opportunity society with a safety net, a society of growth, of opportunity, of upper mobility." Nice declension, but it's upward mobility. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. .... Teebee: "A Romney campaign ad accusing Obama of underhanded tactics is the first to change undecided voters' views, a U.S. university study indicates."

Election Countdown 2012: Hurricane Issac May Put a Damper on the Republican National Convention

This week in the election countdown: a new campaign initiative targets underwate homeowners; while Florida brags of a decrease in their unemployment, 250,000 people have been kicked off the roster for "exhausting" their benefits; in New York gas shale operations now hinge on the whether hazardous materials going in the ground remain hazardous on their way out; and more.

D – 17 and counting*

"It is immoral to use private property in order to alleviate the horrible evils that result from the institution of private property. It is both immoral and unfair." –Oscar Wilde

Montreal. Manifestation, August 22: "Most journalists on twitter were conservatively estimating around 25,000, with gusts up to 50,000, while CUTV estimated 80,000 and CLASSE's official estimate was 100,000. In my opinion, the crowd was over 100,000. A tightly packed crowd which takes between forty-five minutes and an hour to pass a given point, and stretches like a giant snake around most of downtown, is to me clearly in excess of 100,000. [I]t was an overwhelmingly large crowd which occupied much of the downtown core for several hours and sent a crystal clear message to politicians and voters alike. The movement is very much alive" (photo, though not of crowd).

RNCon. Hurricane watch: "12:15pm UPDATE: Scott has indicated that, at this point, he doesn't anticipate that the convention will be canceled. Local, state, federal and RNC officials are meeting regularly to decide what to do." Hurricane watch, Weather Underground: "I put the odds of an evacuation occurring during the convention in the current situation at 3%." ... Teebee: "ABC, CBS and NBC are planning to air only one hour of coverage from Tampa during each of the final three nights of the R convention. Problem is: The GOP convention runs four nights, beginning Monday and featuring Ann Romney's speech." ... Teebee: "[Political coverage this year] can drive viewers away, as ABC learned when it looked at the minute-by-minute ratings of "Good Morning America" and saw that people sometimes tuned out when political news was shown." .... Police state: "About 60 agencies will convene at this secret [sekrit] location during the RNCon Convention, working side-by-side to improve communication. Each agency, including the FBI, will have a separate command center for its decision-making. So far, the FBI has not gathered information of planned terrorist attacks during the convention, [FBI's Steven Ibison] said. 'At this point, it's just the [which? Sovereign citizens? Putzes] anarchists' criminal activity.'" All this for something the networks won't give more than an hour to. ... Police state: ""FBI and (Homeland Security) assess with high confidence anarchist extremists will target similar infrastructure in Tampa and Charlotte, with potentially significant impacts on public safety and transportation," according to the law enforcement alert." As opposed to non-anarchist extremists, I suppose.

OH. Voting: "Issue 2 would establish a 12-member commission to draw the state's legislative and congressional districts, a process now controlled by elected officials. Voters First [filed suit, claiming] the approved [Issue 2] ballot language is incomplete. The wording, for example, omits any references to requirements that the commission draw fair districts that reflect the political preferences of Ohio voters." ... Fracking: "Niles joined Weathersfield Township trustees on Wednesday, passing a resolution to ban all injection wells in the city and township. That includes the proposed site off state Route 169 next to Niles Commerce Park. [I]ltimately it's up to ODNR to approve or reject the permits. [Resident: ] 'ODNR has never denied a permit in their history. If they deny this permit, it'll be the first.'"

OR. C'est normal: "[Kevin Cameron,] the OR House R leader who abruptly stepped down last month says he did so in part because of concerns that the public would find out that he and a handful of other R lawmakers had visited a topless bar." Suggesting where some Tampa streamers should set up shop...

TN. Gaffe: "[The email:] 'I don't give a rat's ass what the black caucus thinks. [State Sen] Jim Summerville.' In the subject line: 'Please share this response with your colleagues.'" And they did, they did! ... Coal: "The TVA is liable for damages caused when one of its containment dikes failed, dumping 1 billion gallons of coal ash sludge onto the community of Watts Bar Lake, TN, a federal judge ruled." The dike's "slimes layer" failed, a great metaphor.

VA. Corruption: "Since cost overruns with a jail expansion and new animal shelter came to light, many [Chesapeake] residents say they have lost trust in how elected officials are spending their tax dollars. City Council members, in turn, say they have lost trust in the city staff for not being upfront about the problems."

WI. Corruption: "Farley pretended to represent a Chicago firm seeking a long-stalled county financial contract and said the firm wanted to know, 'What can we do to put it on the agenda?'" ... Handmaid's Tale: "A lineup of prominent state and national pro-life speakers, including Lt. Gov. Rebecca Kleefisch, had their 'Abortion is not health care' message shouted down in Madison Tuesday, with exchanges between opposing sides at one point nearly coming to blows." .... Shelters: "'If you have things spread all over the city, it's hard to get things done,' [Daniel Callahan] says. 'Especially when you've got backpacks and bags you're carrying around with you.'" Contrary to conventional wisdom, it's hard work to be poor.

The trail. Carville: "Shorter 2010: Rs, energized by the Tea Party and stoked by fear, turned out their base. Ds, absurdly disappointed that simply electing Barack Obama didn't solve all our problems, stayed home in droves to 'send a message.'" No more absurd than insulting your base. ... Medicare, swing states, polls: "After more than a week of frenzied campaigning on the issue, Medicare ranks as the third-most crucial issue to likely voters in Florida, Ohio and Wisconsin — behind the economy and health care, according to new Quinnipiac University/New York Times/CBS News polls of the three swing states."

Romney. Ryan: "It's a nation in debt, in doubt, and decline. We want to get back to the American idea that opportunity society with a safety net, a society of growth, of opportunity, of upper mobility." Nice declension, but it's upward mobility. You're gonna have to study them, you're gonna have to know them. .... Teebee: "A Romney campaign ad accusing Obama of underhanded tactics is the first to change undecided voters' views, a U.S. university study indicates."